Memo to Pro- Postponers....

[Onyango Oloo]

demokrasia-kenya.blogspot.com/2005/09/memo-to-postponent-proponents-postpone.html

[Onyango Oloo]

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[Onyango Oloo]

The following is an excerpt from one of my first full length treatments of the referendum debate way back in late July- almost two months to the day:

My positon on the upcoming referendum is fairly unsophisticated and can be broken down in the following points:

1. The Kenya democratic forces would be making a fatal mistake if they underestimated the DP-NAK forces capacity to win the next referendum;

2. It is not a given that this is going to be a simplistic US versus Them stand off- there will be a lot of shifting of positions with a few dramatic defections from the Bomas camp;

3.We should not wait until October to put in place a coherent strategy-starting with a solid organization on the ground to get things jump-started pronto;

4. It will take more than a few rallies and street marches to win this thing. We need to win Kenyans hut by hut, gichagi kwa gicagi, estate by estate, union by union, NGO by NGO, district by district, province by province;

5. One of our most important initial victories, that is, if we do not stop this process cold in the courts before it even takes off will be to make sure that a CLEAR UNAMBIGIOUS QUESTION IS ASKED. And not a fake, vague question like, "Do You Think Kenyans Need a New Constitution Now?" or similar tomfoolery. The people should know that this is a referendum between the Bomas Draft and the Kilifi Mockery;

6.We must consolidate our forces. Winning over the media will be crucial. The media is NEVER neutral, so we may as well win them over to our side- MOST Kenyan journalists, editors and columnists are patriotic and democratic minded. We should persuade them to work with us. Remember the state already controls at least three media outlets- KNA, PPS, KBC and unofficially, the NATION group and a couple of FM stations;

7. We must win over international public opinion and the Western donor community. They have seen the images on CNN and the BBC- now is time to appeal to them to apply the appropriate pressure;

8. OUR strategy, even if theirs is different MUST NEVER DEGENERATE to a TRIBAL or REGIONAL witch-hunt. Remember all strongholds whether they are associated with this bloc or the other- are still located firmly in Kenya;

9. Unite the Many to Divide the Few. There is a national consensus from the ground up against the Kilifi Draft. But we must translate this latent force into actual human beings waking up to go and vote FOR OUR SIDE- even it means transporting them to the polling boths in wheel barrows, ngamias and punda milia;

10. Vigilance, vigilance, vigilance against the inevitable penchant for the incumbent to rig should be our watchwords. We must recruit and train our observers and monitors;

11. Let us think about creating Wananchi Self Defence Units because the opposing forces may decide to resort to naked violence to frighten and intimidate our side from showing up;

12. I am sure I missed out on 24 other pointers, so please get to work and fill in the blanks...

Here is a link to the full essay:

demokrasia-kenya.blogspot.com/2005/07/who-will-win-november-referendum.html

Onyango Oloo
Toronto